Stock Market Halts Trading For GME After A Tweet From Meme Stock Trader Goes Nuclear

Game Stop (GME) shares skyrocketed on Monday morning after meme stock trader Keith Gill, better known as Roaring Kitty, posted on social media after a three-year hiatus.

Gill posted a picture of someone sitting in a chair, indicating they were paying attention, which caused the stock to surge over 110%.

Due to the significant pump, the stock has been halted on five different occasions since the stock market rang the opening bell.

Gill, in 2021, was known for leading the charge in a short squeeze led by retail traders, which resulted in GME reaching all-time highs.

GameStop, $GME, is up 110%.

It has been halted for a fifth time. pic.twitter.com/UZnY7TrCUP

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) May 13, 2024

BREAKING: Gamestop, $GME, short sellers have lost $1 billion in the first hour of trading today. pic.twitter.com/Zc3EOovqTN

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 13, 2024

Per Yahoo Finance:

GameStop (GME) stock soared as much as 110% Monday and was temporarily halted for volatility after “Roaring Kitty,” the person who is seen as the kickstarter of the meme stock frenzy during the pandemic, posted online for the first time since 2021.

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“Roaring Kitty,” who was identified that year as Keith Gill, became a prominent figure on Wall Street Bets and YouTube for his bullish stance on GameStop (GME).

Sunday’s post on X included a meme of a video gamer leaning forward, appearing to take the game seriously. The last time Roaring Kitty posted on X was in June 2021.

Gill was known for posting commentary about why GameStop would go higher and eventually testified before Congress about the massive January 2021 short squeeze spurred by an army of retail traders.

Short interest on GameStop sits at around 24% of the float, according to S3 Partners data.

“Including today’s losses, GME shorts are now down -$1.34 billion in May month-to-date losses, and now down -$952 million for the year,” Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of S3 Partners, told Yahoo Finance on Monday.

This is absolutely insane:

Gamestop, $GME, is now a $10 BILLION company for the first time since October 2022.

The stock is up 91% today and has been halted FOUR times.

Since April 23rd, $GME has now added $6 BILLION in market cap.

The return of "Roaring Kitty" to X has… pic.twitter.com/6f1LDlw7sm

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 13, 2024

Here’s what The Street reported:

(GME) shares soared in early Monday trading, taking the stock to the highest levels since last July, after a retail investor who was credited with sparking the 2021 meme-stock frenzy reemerged.

The stock was halted from trading by officials on the New York Stock Exchange on five separate occasions in early trading due to surging volatility.

Keith Gill, better known by his online alias Roaring Kitty, posted the first message on his verified X social media account in three years on May 12, showing an image of man leaning forward in a chair.

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The image, which appeared to indicate someone sitting up and paying attention, included no other information and didn’t include any reference to a particular stock. It was nonetheless tied to GameStop, which Gill began touting in January 2021.